The Importance and Dangers of Using Keywords Throughout Your Website
Proper Use of Keywords Can Make or Break Your Law Firm Website Rankings
A successful law firm relies on a constant supply of new cases to continue operations and, hopefully, keep expanding and accumulating a positive reputation. One of the catalysts for this continuous supply, particularly for smaller firms, is a robust digital marketing strategy that puts your firm’s name and website in front of people who are looking for the services you provide.
One shortcut is to simply pay for traffic with PPC ads, but legal keywords are notoriously some of the most expensive in the PPC industry. For example, the term “car accident lawyer long beach” will cost you as much as $350 per click. Ouch!
The good news is that you can avoid this costly form of advertising by focusing on the right keywords throughout your website. There are also some dangers of keyword overuse that could derail your legal marketing efforts.
The Importance of Legal Marketing Keywords
Your keywords are the words or phrases that someone will use to look for your services on a search engine such as Google. They can be single words like “lawyer,” phrases like “personal injury attorney in Mobile,” or even questions like “what’s the penalty for a 2nd DUI in Virginia?”
The better job you do of selecting and optimizing your website (called search engine optimization or SEO) for your keywords, the more likely someone that is looking looking for a firm like yours will find it at the top of the search results and end up on your webpage. So, the keywords you choose as part of your legal marketing strategy must be directly tailored to fit what you’re offering and consider the needs of your target audience. Your keywords should focus on several areas.
Consider Your Unique Brand
One of the first things you should consider is your law firm’s brand. Maybe you have a mission that sums up your firm’s values, such as fierce advocacy for accident victims. You can create some words and phrases associated with your brand to incorporate in your company’s digital content.
If you aren’t sure about what defines you, think about the type of client you wish to serve. What cases do you consider your specialty? What is the most common question you receive from new and current clients?
Location is Vital for Attorneys
According to Hubspot, nearly half (46%) of all Google searches are seeking local information. As an attorney, it’s safe to argue that almost all of your traffic will come from local searches, such as “family lawyer near me” or “motorcycle accident attorney Montgomery.”
When you choose your keyword phrases, it might be tempting to just focus on one or two, but having a broad range is likely to get you better results. Some of the ways you can target geographic keywords for your legal services include:
- Cities and towns
- Neighborhoods
- Points of interest such as universities
- Geographic regions such as the Gulf Coast
Emphasize Your Services
Most laypeople don’t have an interest in learning the intricacies of your state’s legal code. So, they won’t be searching for legalese or complex legal jargon related to their issues. Instead, they’ll want to know the potential consequences of a recent arrest, what they should do after a slip and fall, or how much they might recover after an accident with an 18-wheeler.
Someone that is suspicious of attorneys will search for one that is “trustworthy” and a person that is detail-oriented with look for a lawyer that is “thorough.” While you can’t claim to be the “best” attorney or an “expert,” you can certainly emphasize other aspects of your unique services with the right keyword choices so that you attract more clients.
Where Do the Keywords Go?
Choosing the best keywords and phrases for your legal marketing strategy is only the first step. You’ll need to use them appropriately and effectively to get the results you want and beat out the attorneys that are trying to do the same.
Simply put, you’ll use your keywords and variations of them in content that you publish on your website as practice area pages and blog posts. The best way to get the most mileage out of your chosen topics is to continually post new material that answers questions and provides additional value to current and potential clients.
The Dangers of Overusing Keywords
Similar to many areas of life, too much of a good thing produces diminishing returns. When it comes to overusing keywords, Google’s response can be brutal. In the past, “stuffing” keywords into a website would garner positive results. This is no longer the case.
Cramming the term “Colorado DUI attorney” into a blog post 10 times makes for clunky and unnatural reading. Google’s algorithms will also notice what you’ve done and could penalize or even deindex your site.
Keyword selection and use is obviously a pain point for many law firms. A lot of work not only goes into choosing the right keywords for your business, but also using them effectively so that they engage with the right audience, get you more clicks, and bring in additional clients.
If you believe you could use some help marketing your legal services online, Sundown Legal Marketing has you covered. We specialize in helping law firms develop individualized digital marketing plans and then executing every aspect of those plans so that you can focus on what you do best.
Contact Sundown Marketing Group today at (800) 864-1764 or online for a free law firm marketing assessment or with any questions.
